When I ran to school this morning, the sun was shining, but now… The rain was coming down so hard it was like the sky was falling, and I welcomed it. I invited every icy cold drop to pelt my skin, I leaped into every ankle-deep puddle in the street, and I ran so quickly that my lungs began to burn. It was an excellent distraction from the feeling of grief in my heart,

When I reached the bridge in front of the mountain steps, I finally stopped to catch my breath. My body, which had felt unstoppable ever since I took the pill this afternoon, had reached its limit. I approached the edge of the bridge and peered over to the creek below. What was just a trickle of water this morning had become a three-meter-deep wall of water.

“Fuuuuuuuuck!” I roared at the torrent below me and released the rest of my frustration with a resigned chuckle.

Many years earlier, my mother had told me a story about this very creek. It was one of my earliest memories.

---

I was hiding under my blanket in terror as a storm raged outside. I was convinced that the roaring thunder would shake our house so violently that it would come crashing down. Mama was with me, trying to calm me down, she told me about electricity and plasma as if it was my lack of understanding that was the reason I was quaking in fear. She must have felt as helpless as I did, but to this day I have never seen mama give up, relent or surrender. If she couldn’t convince me that I had nothing to fear, she would show me.

“Lyn, there is no reason for you to fear.” She told me with quiet assuredness. “What does the river feel when it floods the village. Nothing. This world is as uncaring as it is ruthless, and so we punish its misbehavior by digging a deeper and deeper ditch to hold its rivers.”

“But, mama what about the thunder?” I asked her, pleading for relief from the intense fear in my heart. “Mama told me to stay away from the river when it rains, but I can’t stay away from thunder.”

She smiled at me like a teacher smiling at her student and said, “No thunder will ever hurt you, darling. I will protect you from its mighty roar.” Then she beckoned me to the window of our home and pointed to the temple. “You needn’t hide from lightning... Just give it something else to strike.”

She snapped her fingers and a bolt of white lightning came down from the heavens to strike the roof of the temple. From thereafter, I never feared a storm, and for most of my childhood, I believed that my mother had the power to call lightning.

---

“I needn’t fear.” I said out loud to myself and turned to march up the mountain steps.

When I reached the temple grounds, I immediately headed in the direction of our house, which sat on the edge of the grounds in a cluster of buildings behind the temple. I made my way down the cobblestone path on the perimeter of the temple and to the modest single-floor building I called home. Upon entering the foyer, completely dripping wet, I stripped down to my birthday suit, tossing my soaking uniform and undergarments in a hamper, before walking to my room and plopping down on my clean, dry bedding.

After a few moments of rest, I dried my hair and changed into a simple t-shirt and jersey pants, before leaving to search for my mother. In the few minutes I spent inside, the storm had intensified again, and the house creaked and swayed with every gust of wind.

“Mama!” I yelled while I went from room to room, before quickly concluding that she wasn’t in the house.

*BANG!*

The entire house shook as if there were an earthquake as lightning crashed somewhere nearby. The lights in the house blinked once before turning off completely.

Did that just hit the temple?

I looked out the window at the red and black building outside. The rain shutters were flapping around violently in the wind, but there weren’t any signs of a lightning strike. Looking closer, I saw a faint flickering light coming from deep inside the temple where the altar presided.

“There you are!” I said while rolling my eyes after noticing that the rain shutters were wide open. Who did she think was going to sweep the place after the rain blew over?

The temple was our neighborhood’s pride and joy. Mama and I took great care to keep it in excellent condition. The building was actually built hundreds of years ago to house an ancient shrine within. The sheer size and quality were ludicrously opulent for such a nondescript location, but the story of who built it and why was a mystery lost to history, but the temple housed an even greater mystery. How did mama, who acted as the head (and only) priestess, become responsible for this place? Hopefully, I may unravel that one tonight.

Before I left the house, I grabbed an umbrella and my rain boots. I was finally well and dry. I carefully ran out the door, down the cobblestone path, and through the main torii gate to reach the temple’s main entryway. After discarding my shoes and socks, I walked the perimeter and closed the rain shutters, before stepping up on the hardwood floor of the temple.

I walked down a series of wooden hallways till I reached a sliding paper door. The paper glowed with candlelight as I approached. I slid open the door, sending a rush of wind blasting into the room. The wind rapidly extinguished several of the candles mama had strewn about the floor. She sat there, her back toward me, as her shoulder-length black hair whipped around wildly. Her body remained motionless as she faced an idol of a nine-tailed fox, her neat posture projecting a calm aura that seemingly transcended the chaos that I had introduced to the room.

I closed the door and knelt at her side. Placing a hand on her shoulder, I said “Hi mama, I’m back,” in a half-whisper.

After a noticeable delay, she to me with a weak smile.

“Hi, sweetie, are you ready for our tuning?”

Her eyes were blankly staring off into the distance as if her attention was elsewhere. I attempted to meet her gaze, but she seemed despondent.

“Yes mama, I’m ready… Oh, the power went out inside, did you hear that thunder a few minutes ago? It was super close; I wouldn’t be surprised if it hit right here.” I nervously babbled while avoiding what I really wanted to say. “Mama… Could tell me about where we’re going before we get started?” I fidgeted with my hands in nervousness. “And you look a bit… Tired. Is everything ok?”

I awaited her response, but after about thirty seconds of pure awkward silence passed, I looked up to see that my mother hadn’t reacted at all. She hadn’t even blinked, but was still looking in my direction with a dim gaze.

“Mama, what’s wrong?” I asked in concern. “Mama!” She still wouldn’t respond, so I grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

The light returned to her eyes. “Sorry sweetie, could you repeat that?”

Even her reaction was wrong. It seemed like an incredibly awkward prank, but my mother didn’t indulge in pranks.

“What the fuck just happened mama? Should we go to the hospital?” I said looking at her completely dumbfounded, my face plastered with worry.

“I’m just a little tired from… The umm, preparations and my mind is… elsewhere. I’ll get some sleep after we finish.” She said as she brought her sleeve up to her mouth and made a completely unconvincing yawn.

? Sleep deprivation? Bullshit! She just blue-screened right in front of me!

“No!” I said with an accusatory glare. “You told me that we were done with secrets mama. You are going to explain everything to me before we start tuning, or I am taking you to the hospital.” I demanded with a serious tone.

She nodded and let out an exasperated sigh.

“You’re right… The truth is that I’m not feeling so well... It’s just not an easy subject to explain….” I could hear strong hesitancy in her voice.

“I need to know mama.” I wasn’t going to back down.

“You’re right…” She said dejectedly. “Listen carefully, Lyn, and hold your questions till the end. I sheltered you for too long, and the truth will be difficult to swallow, but, I fear that we may have less time than I predicted this afternoon.”

She motioned for me to sit in front of her, and looked at me with an expression of grim determination, and my head was washed with an intense urge to run away.

Would I be better off if I didn’t know? Was I really ready for this?

My mother saw the look of doubt on my face and gently brushed my hair before beginning to speak.

“For the last fifteen years, I have ensured that you lived the life that I wished for in my childhood. It’s been a lovely dream that I vainly stived to see we would never awaken from.” She took a long breath and let out a pained sigh. “When we came to this… magnificent world, I was startled by how perfectly it suited our needs. It was as if the goddess of fate crafted this entire world for this stage of your life.” Her voice seemed to be filled to the brim with regret and sadness. “Not only is this world’s ether so thin that your body was able to grow perfectly with just a few minor adjustments, but also, I could hold on long enough to see you through it.” Again, her eyes glazed over for a moment, but this time I saw her eyebrows furrow when she recovered.

“What do you mean, hold on?” I had hundreds of questions, but my concern for her came first.

She looked at me and smiled, a genuinely warm smile, as a small trail of blood dripped from her eyes.

“You’re a clever girl, Lyn. I like to think that you get your wits from me, although I can’t be completely sure. But in all seriousness, I’m dying, and to keep you safe I need you to stay with your other mother.”